Automatic dirigible headlight for motor-vehicles.



J. E. BATCHELDER.

AUTOMATIC DRRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT FOR MOTOR VEHICLES,

' APPLICATION FILED NOV 25, 1916.

JL9QUJB6$D Patented Juno 25, 1918.

IN V EN W1 TNESS il'fimllil' ERIN BATCHELDER,

i "are. oliiwliw :1 milsor Morison", cnrirronmm.

A'UTQRQIATIG DXRIGIBLE HEADLIGH'I ."EQR .rtoron vnrrrorine.

"hero nes" Elpccii'ication of Letters Patent.

lP'ntcntool June till, il'hllh,

i Application file-fl November 25, 1916. herial no.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JoIrN E. BATCPIEL one, a citizen of the United States, residing ut Jackson, in the county of Amedor,- State of ,Coliforniu, have invented certain new end useful Improvements in Automatic A 'Dirigiblc Hood-Lights for Motor-Vehicles;

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and I do declare the following to be a full,

clear and exact description of the some, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, winch form a, part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in heud-l1 hts mounted on motor vehicles whereby t, e some may he made dirigihlc for turning in such direction as the vehicle m be turned, this being accomplished by connection with the steering incchunisi'n oi the vehicle and in addition to this l. provide a manual operating? means operable zit or hear the steering wheel of the vehicle till till

whereby the lamps may be turned in either direction or up and down as may he rcquircd. Traveling at night especially in mountainous country is very dangerous with the ordinary form of heed-lights due to the fact that in cresting a hill they throw oil into'space instead of down upon the road and the road often turns and twists and. drops oil" at an angle just at the crest of a hill which renders it extremely dangerous in manipulation of the vehicle where the road cannot be seen with the lights. Also in twisting around. winding roads the lights are of very little benefit when. rigidly utteched to the vehicle.

It is these conditions which my improved dirigible attachment is designed to overcome.

A further object of the invention is to produce a, simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly cffective for the purposes for which it is shoving such uttachn'ient in operative positzoni Fig. 3 is a" fragmentary view showing the connecting moons between the steering arm and headlight mechanism.

Referring now more particularly to the chm-actors 4: reference on the drawings the numeral 1 designates the vehicle and 2 the headlights thereon which in my improved structure are supported uponv rods 3 and 4 which are turnzrhlc through. brackets 5 suitably mounted on. the frame of the ve hicicn fit the low-er end of one of the rods 35 or i is or smell. hcveled gear 6 which inter-meshes with another beveled. gear 7 held. in u hreclret 8.

Connected with the gear 7 is e projecting rod 8 which terminates in or small pinion 10 suitably join-n led in any desired form of hruciret, us at ll.

interineshing with the pinion 10 is a,

wornror siinilor gear 12 connected on the end oii'n hollow rod 13, This hollow rod 13 extends upwardly to a point eclincent the steering wheel 14 of the vehicle and in till journalcd in suitable supports to allow of hit A small rod 17 is connected with the handle 15 by a hell and socket joint'and projects through the tuhulermember 13 and thence is guided through sup orting roller hcnrin gs l3 and thence is connected with n bell crenit 19 mounted on the frame of the vehicle edjocent the hrnchet 3" The opposite end. of the hell crank i9 is connected with an opereting arm 20 which in turn connects lay it hull and socket joint 2]. with one of the lamps 2.

A cross her 22 connects the opereting arm 520 with another similar arm on the other lump which letter arm in turn connects by a ball and socket joint with the other lump. Thus with the opcrntion of the hell crank 19 "the lumps may he turned to throw the-light tl'ierotroin up or down, this being accomplished by pulling the handle member 15 up or down which causes therod l! to operate the hell crenlr 19.

The above described mechanism shows how the lights may he tilted up and clown at the will of the ()Pitlilifil.

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at the end of the to ulur member roe llllh The lights also turn automatically as the vehicle is turned by means of the following described mechanism, namely:

A loose sleeve 23 about three inches long is fitted over the tubiilar rod 13 at a convenient point beneath the hood or body of the vehicle.

Rigidly connected with each end of this sleeve 23 are spiral springs 24: and 25, the

opposite ends of each of these springs 24 and 25 being fastened to small adjusting collars 26 and 27 respectively. These adjusting collars 26 and 27 are in turn fastened to the tubular member 13 by means of set screws 28 whereby by moving the collars at different points the tension of the springs as and 25 may be properly adjusted. The sleeve 23 1s provided with a projecting arm 29.

A connecting rod 30 leads from the arm 29 to another rod 31 and thence to a rock ing shaft 32, The rocking shaft 32 is provided with another arm 33 on the opposite end which in turn is connected with an arm 34 on the steering gear shaft 35.

When the Wheels are steered in one direction or the other the shaft 35 turns and this, through the medium of the connection shown, turns the sleeve 23. The springs 24: and 25 are at such tension that this turns the tubular member 13.

T his action causes the gear 12 to turn the gear 10 and incidentally the shaft 9 and gear '2', and hence the gear 6, This will turn the bracket 3 and the corresponding light 2 and since a cross rod 35 connects the brackets 3 and 4: this will likewise turn the other lamp 2 in the same direction as the vehicle is turned. If this turning operation is not sufficient to satisfy the needs of the operator of the car, he reaches forward and grasps the handle 15 and turns the lamps further, the springs 24 and 25 allowing of this action.

From the foregoing description it readily appears that I have produced a dirigible headlight which is automatic in its op eration under normal conditions, and which.

can be manually operated to suit the conditions which may arise in the driving of the vehicle. I

Also from the foregoing description it Wlll readily be seen that 1 have produced such a devlce as substantially fulfils the ob ects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in de- I The combination with headlights of a vehicle swiveled for lateral ll'lOVOlTlGIlt, of a means for operating the same both manually and automatically, such means comprising an operating rod arranged to be turned by hand to move the'lights laterally at will, and means connected between the steering mechanism and such rod for turning the same when the vehicle is steered in v one direction or the other, such means comprising a sleeve on the rod, spiral springs connected with the sleeve and with the rod, and means interposed between the sleeve and steering mechanism whereby when the steering mechanism is operated the sleeve will be turned.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOHN EiKIN BATCHELDER. 

